ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE – THE NEXT BIG THING IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

Last week we discussed a topic that is taking PR by storm: Artificial Intelligence. Today, I want to delve deeper into how we can succeed by combining AI and PR and the impact that could have.

The media pitch is slowly evolving. Did you know that the Associated Press uses AI to write earnings reports? In fact, it now produces 12x more stories than it was able to prior to using AI. As media outlets turn to AI for routine reports and journalists employ AI to smartly scan their inboxes, our pitches, releases, and content marketing need to change. We as practitioners need to be sure that our PR materials are easily understood by AI as this practice becomes more prevalent.

Measurement is more impactful. AI can power more sophisticated reporting by quickly gleaning the sentiment of social posts and news articles for you and your competitors and offer recommendations. Look at some of the sample reports from TrendKite for example. They include insights on the impact of PR, key message pull-through, and sentiment analysis – data that is tedious and time-consuming to analyse manually.

Strategy is becoming smarter. With such measurement and insights in place, PR teams can better identify trends as well as emerging threats. Armed with this level of understanding, we can create content that speaks to key customer needs, proactively address potential crises before they expand, and create smarter overall strategies.

Every one of these precedents requires one key attribute of PR professionals: consistent long for development and learning. At C&B, our vivacious goals address this need. Truth be told, four of those six rules are specifically required to influence utilization of AI in PR: To be “Enthusiastically Curious,” Learning Never Ceases, Desire to Be the Best, Drive Change. While you may state it in an unexpected way, PR masters who exemplify these attributes are the ones that remain to use AI in PR most effectively.

The day-to-day work of a PR professional has evolved from reporting fluffy, imprecise metrics to truly driving business impact. The future is here, and AI is going to play a major role in the work we do—whether we’re ready or not.

Reem Masswadeh is Client Services Director at Cicero & Bernay Public Relations, an independent PR agency headquartered in Dubai offering new-age public relations consultancy to the UAE and across the MENA region. | www.cbpr.me